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J Dog was as tired as Freddy was of being a glorified pimp. More like a whore. The only difference between him and the girls was that he didn’t have to dance or have sex with men. Rafael treated him like he did the girls. He kept the money, told him what to do and when to do it. If any serious issues arose, it would be J Dog, Freddy, Gorgonio, or Nestor who’d have to deal with them. All Rafael was capable of was beating up the girls. J Dog decided to have fun with his now ex-boss.
“Hey, boss, it’s me, J Dog,” he said when Rafael picked up the phone. It was three a.m. “I got some good news and some bad news for you.”
“It couldn’t wait a couple of hours ‘til you got back?”
“No. You’ll want to hear this.”
“What is it?” Rafael was in no mood for games.
“Well, the good news is, I found the two goons who robbed you.”
“What? Why the fuck didn’t you say so? Where?”
“Right here in the club.”
“Two, which two?”
“How da fuck should I know? Neither of them as big as you described, though.”
“How do you know they’re the guys that robbed me?”
“They told me.”
“You talked to them? What the hell? What’d you talk about?”
“I’ll get to that. Remember, I said I had good news and bad news?”
“Then get to it. And, yeah, I remember. So? The two dudes, are they still there?”
“Oh, no, they left a few minutes ago.”
“Damn. That is bad news. I could’ve been there in ten minutes. I’d have gotten Freddy to meet us. We woulda showed them who they was fuckin’ with.”
“Well, boss, that wasn’t exactly the bad news.”
“What’s the bad fucking news?”
“When they left, they took all our girls.”
“What?” Rafael screamed into the phone. “You didn’t stop them?”
“Uh, no. Not those two. Man, I don’t think four of us could’ve stopped them.”
“You’re a pussy. I bet you didn’t even try. I should fire your ass.”
“I would have, but they bought me a drink. We had a long talk. They were kind of nice, for big apes. They explained that their boss, didn’t say who he was, was taking over. He’d made a deal with the club owners, and you’re out. Your girls can’t work at Polecatz or Lickety anymore. To help the girls out, they was takin’ them and would make sure they got jobs at places where they’d fit in good.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? Is this a joke?”
“No, it’s not. And what you said about firing me—”
“I’m changing that. You’re fired.”
“That’s the other thing. They said if they saw me around any of the clubs, they’d take me out and kill me. Funny, they were calm and even polite about it, but I believe them. I’m going home, packing what I can, and getting the hell out of town.”
“You running from them? Where will you go?”
“You damn right I am. I don’t know where I’m going. Since you didn’t pay me, I don’t have as much cash, but I’ll go somewhere and find work. I’ll probably be living in the Yukon for a while.”
“You’re going to Alaska?”
“Huh?” J Dog wondered if Rafael was that stupid or was trying to be funny. “Yeah, if I can scrape up the money for gas, I’m heading for Alaska.” At least Rafael wouldn’t come looking for him if he believed he was in the Yukon and not actually living in his Chevrolet Yukon. Neither man knew that the Yukon was in Canada, not Alaska.
“Just wanted to let you know. Didn’t want you to worry when I didn’t show up later with the girls. Good luck, man.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m still going to take care of those guys. I’ll get my money and my girls back, with or without you.”
“Okay. See ya.” J Dog didn’t wait for Rafael to respond. He hung up the phone and texted Freddy: Just told Rafael the girls were gone. Told him I M going to Alaska.
Freddy replied: LOL WTF That’s funny. I’m calling him now.
Rafael hung up the phone and paced around his house, his mind racing. He’d gotten the gun he kept in his car, a cheap Taurus 9mm, and waved it in the air, pretending to shoot the big guys who’d robbed him. He wanted to drive over to the clubs and look for the guys. “They may be big, but that won’t stop a nine-millimeter,” he said, pointing the gun at the wall. His fantasy was interrupted by a call from Freddy.
“Freddy, what’s going on? Everything okay?”
“Not really. A couple of big-ass dudes came into the club tonight and sat right beside me.”
“Let me guess, they were nice, bought you a drink.”
“Yeah, they did. How’d you know?”
“Then they took my fucking girls. Tell me they didn’t take the girls.”
Freddy wanted to lie but couldn’t. “They took them. Told me to get my ass outta town too.”
“And you’re leaving? Man, you’re as big a pussy as J Dog.”
“Yeah, maybe so. And you ain’t? We know how well you stood up to them yesterday.”
“That’s different. There was three of them. They had a gun on me too. At least I didn’t let them take my girls.”
“Uh, yeah, you did.”
“Fuck you, Freddy. I’ll get the girls back. Without you or J Dog. Nestor and Gorgonio will help. We’ll be back in business, and your chicken-shit ass will be broke living on the streets. Don’t come crawling back to me when you’re broke.”
Freddy was pissed at Rafael’s comments and was tempted to tell him to go fuck himself when he remembered how calm and polite the two big men who took the girls were. They never raised their voices. They didn’t call him names. They politely suggested he leave town. Leave town or be killed, but in a polite way. Freddy vowed he was going to be more polite.
“Thank you, Rafael, I won’t come crawling back. Good luck getting the girls back. Say hi to Nestor for me.” He hung up the phone.
Rafael Zapata was milliseconds away from throwing his phone against the wall. Instead, this being his only phone and with limited means to replace it, he picked up an empty beer bottle and threw it at the concrete wall of his rented house.
Rafael continued to pace. He needed to get more girls – and quickly. He also needed to determine if he was cut-off from supplying girls to the two clubs like J Dog said. If he could find a couple of girls, he could find a club for them to work. Worst case, he’d set them up as escorts. They could work incall from the house, and if the client wanted outcall, he’d deliver. Of course, they would need to be attractive. Escorts had to look better than strippers.
Rafael checked his watch. It was five in the morning. About the time the guys would be bringing the girls back. Maybe all this was a prank, and they’ll all come through the door any minute, laughing and joking and saying how they had punked him.
By six o’clock, Rafael knew for sure it was not an elaborate hoax orchestrated by his crew. He needed a good sleep. Later, after some rest, he could think better. He had the rest of the drugs J Dog bought the previous day, and a few hundred bucks in his wallet the thieves didn’t get. The girls might have some cash stashed in their rooms. Some of them had saved a little and any amount would help. When he woke up, he’d head down to South Beach and look for some new girls.
The phone call woke Rafael. From the caller ID, he saw it was Nestor. It should have been Gorgonio.
“Hello,” he said apprehensively.
“Rafael, it’s Nestor.”
“Hey, where are you? You doing okay?”
“Yeah, fine. We’re passing Galveston Island.”
“Why are you calling? Gorgonio was supposed to call.”
“I know. He probably will later. He doesn’t know I’m calling you.”
“So, why are you calling?”
“Reymundo, the guy who owns the boat, wanted me to call you.”
“Why, what’s he trying to pull?”
“It’s all good. We was talking, and he said when he gets back to Miami, he’d like to start a hooker charter. You know, like he did with our girls. But this time, he said he wants to do business with you. You supply the girls, he’d arrange the charters and drive the boat. He’d pay you, and the girls would work for tips. He said on the cruise he did, the girls made about a grand apiece. That’s good money. He thinks once word spreads, they could book several charters a week. Maybe more. Charge more whenever the Super Bowl or other big events are in town. But he said the girls have to be hot. Nice too. He said the girls from the first cruise were perfect, but he knows they’re gone. At least two of them are gone anyway.”
Rafael knew he’d be getting his cut from the girls and drugs just smuggled into the US, but that was a pittance compared to what his girls made at the clubs. This charter venture would get him back in the game while he was restocking his stable. But it seemed too easy. “He say why he wanted to do this?”
“The money. Said it was easier than a fishing boat. Pays better too. The expenses would be low. He said he could slowly motor up and down the coast while the clients got drunk and partied with the women. Said he and his lady are about broke. He also said that when we get back, he’d show you the boat, take it out and let you be the first client. On the way back to Miami, we’ll train the girls how to act. They’d be like regular boat stewardesses, but if you want a lap dance, they’d give you one. I said you could be the test guest. If you liked what you saw, you’d make a deal. I figure that’d be the only way you could tell if the girls could make more money here or at a club.”
“Kind of a floating strip joint. I like the idea, but I’d have to think about it. I do like your idea of me checking it out first. I need to see it in action.” Rafael pumped his fist in the air with excitement, but he didn’t want to let on to Nestor.
“Reymundo said Gorgonio told him you said he could have two of the girls. Is that true?”
“Yeah, I promised him the girls. Just for the trip back, I’m planning to add them to the stable. I said he could break them in on the way back. It would keep him happy too.”
“Reymundo was thinking maybe instead of letting Gorgonio have them, save them for his cruise business. He said he had two others picked out he’d like to bring back too. He wanted to know if we could bring four girls back with us.”
“I don’t know. We promised to deliver ten.”
“That’s what I said, but Reymundo says we tell the guys two of the girls got cold feet and got off the boat before we left Cuba. That we only got eight. What are they going to do?”
Nestor had a good point. If only eight got on, only eight could get off. He could sure use four girls, considering he had none at the moment. If Reymundo would be happy with the four from the boat, he could take his time and find some quality girls to start rebuilding with. The charter business might be just the ticket back.
“Nestor, tell him I like the idea. Bring back four girls. I’ll do the test cruise, like a paying guest. If I like it, we got a deal. If not, I can always use four new girls.”
“I’ll tell him. Will you tell Gorgonio to leave the girls alone? Reymundo says he starts raping and abusing them, they might jump or go crazy on us. At the very least, they’ll be harder to convince to work the cruises.”
“I agree. You’ll have to bring them around on the way back. You know how to get them to work for you. I know you will have them ready.”
“I can do it, as long as Gorgonio leaves them alone. Tell him once I get them trained, he can be their first client.”
“Second client. I’ll be the first. When he calls, I’ll tell him we’ve had a change of plans, that you’re bringing four girls back, and they’re all off-limits.”
“Hope it works. Thanks.”
“It will. He listens to me. Call me if you have any trouble.”
“I will. Bye.”
Rafael hung up the phone, jumped in the air, and pumped his fist. “Yeah, baby, I’m back in the game.”